Taoiseach refuses to rule out second Lisbon vote

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has refused to rule out putting the Lisbon treaty to the Irish people in another referendum.

Holding a second vote, as happened following the rejection of the Nice treaty in 2005, is not likely given the higher turnout in Thursday’s referendum and the unlikelihood of narrowing the gap between the yes and no sides. Mr Cowen consistently repeated during the campaign that there was no “Plan B”. But last night he refused to assure the Irish public that they would not have to vote on the treaty again. “I’m not prepared to surmise on that,” he said. “We have an outcome here where we have a very uncertain future going forward. Colleagues in other countries are equally affected by this.”

“I have to talk to colleagues. I’m not ruling anything in or out or up or down. I have to go and see what the political decisions are that arise from this and analyse this fully,” he said.